Columbus wants to host the Democratic National Convention in 2016 — and representatives for the city worked to make that clear in Washington Thursday evening.

At a reception complete with brisket and crab cake sliders, free drinks and mock delegate signs and passes, many top Buckeye State Democrats worked to convince DNC members that holding the next party convention in swing-state Ohio will benefit the 2016 Democratic nominee. It was the only exception to what’s otherwise been a fairly quiet Democratic convention process thus far, especially compared with the early efforts of cities vying for the 2016 Republican convention.

The pitch Thursday night was simple: Columbus – and Ohio as a whole – are key to any presidential victory.

“As Ohio goes, so goes the nation,” speaker after speaker told the crowd of more than 400 people.

As Democrats came to town for the party’s winter meeting, there was little overt talk of convention cities in between caucus meetings and speeches; asked what they’d heard so far, many DNC members said not much at this early stage in the process. While there’s been chatter about other cities that are potentially interested — Phoenix, for example, is planning to submit a bid, and others such as Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Atlanta are seriously considering it — none of the others held events or handed out swag to DNC members.

Columbus is one of three Ohio cities, along with Cleveland and Cincinnati, considering bids for both conventions.

At last month’s RNC winter meeting, Columbus, along with four others — Las Vegas, Denver, Phoenix, Kansas City — worked to woo members with wifi lounges, barbeque and churros, among other things. All five of those cities were included in the RNC’s list of eight that made it to the next round of consideration; also on the list were Cleveland, Cincinnati and Dallas.

DNC officials say their selection process has always unfolded later on the calendar than that of Republicans, which accounts for the lack of fanfare at the Democrats’ gathering this week. In the 2012 cycle, for example, Republicans announced their pick of Tampa in May 2010; Democrats didn’t announce they had chosen Charlotte until February 2011. And while Republicans chose their site selection committee last month, Democrats haven’t begun to name theirs.

Still, the process is slowly beginning: Cities must indicate to the DNC by Saturday whether they’re interested in submitting a proposal. At that point, the DNC will send over its full list of requirements and the cities can choose whether to submit a formal proposal.

St. Louis, Austin, Kansas City, Portland, Chicago and Tampa have all already said they’re not planning to bid on the 2016 convention. Representatives from mayor’s offices in many of the other potential cities didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Hosting a convention can be a huge economic boon to the city involved: as DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz writes in the letter, past national conventions “have injected approximately $150 million to $200 million” into the host city’s economy.

But it also comes with a long list of requirements, dealing with everything from available hotel rooms to security to the most important part: fundraising.

The DNC’s interest letters were accompanied by a detailed, 9-page list of requirements for host cities, including an arena with a capacity of 18,500 to 25,000; 17,000 to 18,000 hotel rooms (and 1,000 suites) within a half-hour radius of the convention site; and a “financial package,” though the letter didn’t specify how much.